Ever wanted to make you favourite lamp in the park to look wonderful, but it would never make up for a whole mod? Or how about a round cigar? Now your dreams can come true!
This topic is primarily meant for anybody who wishes to contribute with their work to remastering Mafia. If you can’t, you shoud learn or make time, but if you won’t, though we will love you only halfway, stable build and other related things are available for download at the end of the post. Unless you’re interested1, skip there. If big enough number of more things are completely done, new packages will be released.
1 you could be interested

A person’s time is limited. Doing something like this in a team of two people might take our lifetimes and I plan to die around forty. We put together a way for anyone to contribute in any way and and we don’t present this as anybody’s mod, but as a common effort.

For those who have time, read through. For those who don’t, here’s a concluding Q and A:
1. What’s this? - We have some wonderful high poly models as a basis of correctly remastered game and a way for you to contribute with anything you wish. For the time being, we’re not going to create anymore, we’re going to help possible helpers and we will be putting it together for the game.
2. Where can I download it? Up is a stable pack, down below are different (and some much broader) packs, read part eight.
3. Can you see the future? - Yes. Remastering the whole game properly without it being a waste of time is impossible on the current engine. First of, it will become unstable – though we are and will optimize, second – some parts are unchangeable (like characters). Once the game will be ported into a new engine (not guaranteed when, so don’t count on it). Then the models will be used again.
4. How can I contribute? - Read part one, or just PM me or reply to this topic.
5. Will I be credited for my work? - Yes.
6. Do I need to read the rest? - No, but it’s fun.

0. Why “actually really remastered”
First of, “actually” along with “literally” and many others is an overused word, so using it once again won’t hurt anybody. “Really” because the goal we set for this thing is not to put out a few new textures, add a few lights and water shader and finally blur it all with some tool, but to create a final version of each thing we change in order to properly remaster the game. If at all, then properly. That way it may never be finished, but still we believe the project has better prospects doing so. Though we completely understand what it takes to take part in something like this and hence we highly appreciate anybody doing anything - and besides, we are in no position to tell anybody what to do, it’s good to set some standards to prevent this. The result of remastering (a term which I personally view as reserved for film and sound, but for whatever reason is used in games as well) should be graphics that not only look much better, but are also somehow true to the original look of the game. That’s why only contributions which meet these standards will be marked as completely done. Additionlly, if a new texture is not compatible with the original style of the game, it will break the spell and old textures will still be more desirable. If you only want the game to look overall better, download the packages mentioned below, choose textures and be happy.

1. Contribute with your model and / or a texture
If you do that, we will love you. We created a list of models with textures. It will let you find out which models are done, which are worked on and whether there are some that you could finish or continue working on. Except for those, work on anything. The downloads column provides links to folders with .4ds and .bmp files. PSDs (or other editable texture files) are available on request because saving space.

Send me a PM (preferred) or reply to this topic, I will mark the thing you’re working on as “in progress” in the list and you will get your folder on Onedrive (or you can use your own) where you will upload. We thought of easier options, but the list has to be moderated by one person only and as we take the burden of putting the modification together for the game, this way we can guide you from the beginning to avoid unnecessary problems, ease the process on your side and send you the materials we already have (see “Problems Solvers”). To get a better picture of the open question of optimalization see “Sustainable Development”. What you really need to do is to choose the level of detailness just right (check other models and use your head – polygons are evil, but fewer than needed is a waste of time) and create LODs. For textures: it’s always possible to make them smaller, it doesn’t work the other way around. If you contribute only with a model, you can still map it and add render wireframe map.
Contributing only with textures is unfortunately much more limited because the idea of the mod. Unless there is something to work on in the list, making textures without new models is not always a good idea. Nevertheless there are some where it could work. Interiors, large surfaces (roads, sidewalks, etc.), textures which won’t need a new layout or for which we have already set a certain system – like buildings in the city where models can be done later. If you want to send other shiny new textures, they will be added to the “parts” line.
Autorship? All the authors are and will be properly mentioned in the list. If you want to release your work under some license, that can be specified in the downloadable build.

1b. Contribute with something
Unable to make models or even textures? Are you sure about that? Maybe you will be able to do something... or at least to learn! Still nothing? Well, you can help us filling those help and parts folders for each category or replacing models in scene.4ds, calculating collisions or trying to bake lightmaps.

2. Limitations
- The basic layout of each mission (stripped interiors, city streets, others) is placed in scene.4ds model for each mission (gray object name in MWE). Scene.4ds can be exported and hence edited, but it is not posible to put it back into the game because differous dummy objects and sectors. Using MWE sole parts of scene.4ds can be moved (not deleted), so we solve this limitation by moving the original models under the ground and adding new ones into scene2.bin. We did this with stacked barrels on a backyard or with the first aid kit in the church. In such instances it does not cause any problems, but because of the already mentioned special objects and sectors, we don’t exactly know where it might cause any (visibility, sounds, shadows, lights?). All the angular hilly roads in the city could be repaired using this method – create one model with nice hills, place it into scene2.bin and bring down all the old hills, but it has to be tested. Also, it’s not a good idea to bring down a whole interior and replace it with new one. In case of whole interiors only parts can be added. On the example of the church – instead of trying to get rid of the whole church in scene.4ds, you can add round pillars with a bit bigger diameter hiding the old ones... This would still be portable to a new engine, but it also means more work in Mafia editors.
- Creating ligtmaps where needed for new models is fun. Currently it does not seem to be possible to do it right. Maybe it can also be connected with original omni lights in scenes being optimized and set for models with about one polygon. IS also many times created a lightmap using certain light to create an effect and then deleted that light, which makes it impossible to bake the lightmap just like that without recreating the light (which is practically impossible).
- It’s not possible to create characters. Bones are lost when exporting to .4ds. Period.

3. Problems solvers
- The dilemma of mesh names: Many models have lightmaps generated is different parts of the game. Leaving the mesh name true to the original one causes the model to look blue where it has lightmaps generated. To avoid this, mesh names have to be changed. Then the models are not blue, only badly lightmapped. In order to have correct lightmaps, they have to be generated again for new models in the newest MWE (there are additional problems – see “Limitations”). At the same time, re-naming a mesh will break all the links the original name had tied to itself. Like face collisions (unless the model has collision made of a primitive – that’s actually an usual case in Mafia). Then the collision has to be generated again using MWE (written into tree.klz). It would seem logical to leave collisions and generate lightmaps, right? The problem is that lightmaps are saved in scene2.bin. That’s a file used by every other modification. So unless the other mod is built on our scene2.bin files, they can’t co-exist unless edited. That’s why mesh names are generally changed. Someties not: Doing this with items would cause them to loose shadows. So one shotgun with a lightmap at Vincenzo’s workshop will still be blue, unless you use our scene2.BINs. (This may still be changed, but that needs a research.)
- Lightmaps have to be created where they were originally present.
- Setting normals: LODs must be used because of optimalization. In order to use them, the .4ds model must be exported from Zanoza Modeler. Exporting from Max using the .4ds export script might create tiny unwanted mistakes an exporting to 3ds can break normals. Properly weld the model/set the normals right. What’s okay in 3ds Max doesn’t have to be okay in the game. Don’t even think of using the infernal Zmodeler tool to correct them.

- Things like LODs, billboards, mirrors or morph animations have to be set using LS3D Sandbox / HEX editor
- There are a few extra errors that can occur during the making and re-exporting: Bad mapping (wrong part of a texture is used), dummy objects for particle systems are not exported, wrong scale, wrong axis centering...
- Copies of some models you will make can be replacable in scene.4ds (see “Limitations”).
- What materials? The list has also a parts and help lines for each category and stadalone packs of textures done by others which could be build upon (many times could not) are available for download from the downloads section.

- What advice? Well, for example some textures are mapped on multiple models. If a new layout is done for a model, the other one will need to be re-mapped. Now you don’t have to find out which ones are affected. One model is always the main one for a texture, so if you decide to make the other one, it’s better to wait for the texture of the main one...

To deal with finding lightmaps and textures used on multiple models in an acceptable manner, Harry created his Object Finder – a tool with the ability to find in which scenes a model is used, which models use a texture and which textures are used on a model. See “Downloads”.

4. Background
You can vaguely remember me trying to do a movie from Mafia (still due to come as a series maybe sometime in the next ten years). Along with Harry we ended up doing this instead. We didn’t touch it for about a year (mostly my fault). Feeling it would be a shame not to let the world enjoy the little we already (didn’t) have, I wanted to let it out as it was and thanks to Harry’s motivational seminar, every model he started (some dating back to 2013) is now completely finished, which creates a nice base for the modification. For nice textures thank Marta, for those less nice thank my bad mood. Harry’s models are all perfect. Although we had much fun finishing this now, for the time being, we do not intend to continue except for completing work done by you (which – maybe surprisingly – can bring problems) and releasing stable builds.

5. Sustainable Development
This involves two problems: the first is whether there are people who will do something like this. Creating this topic might help put people with the same effort together as anyone can contribute – even with unfinished work, but at the same time, this is not attractive for anyone but true fans with some abilities and time. No art, because you should copy something that has already been done1. Nothing to learn because you can’t use any modern technics - no normal maps, no specular maps, no substance painters, no nothing, alpha channels for opacity. The modern approach is to use pure materials and let the engine do the rest. In Mafia, you have to control most things with a single .bmp image.
The second one is engine limitations. Fairly easy with textures - maps folder cannot exceed 4 GB, that’s about it. It’s worse with models. Except for problems which we offer to solve ourselves for your models, the engine is simply too old, being able to use only 5 – 10 % of the newest graphics cards (more with some help, but it depends2) and probably being less and less stable with each extra polygon. With the few models we have now there are no problems but trying for example the Real Car Facing Mod can already cause problems. You have to create LODs, but even then the new poly count is somehow set and killing nice new models too much is against the basic idea of this modification. If we however optimalize the stable builds, the original works will still be available from Onedrive folders and ready for further use - like porting to a new engine which is the only thing that can save us all and at the same time, it’s a bit of a utopy. That German guy with Unreal has already finished as well.

1 Okay, every texture is a work of art, but you get my point
2 help = Dgvoodoo, depends = engine will generally use up to 40% of the graphis card, but when it comes to the actual need (like overlooking the whole city from the hill with 3500 view distance), we go back to 10% and low fps.

6. Other graphics enhancements for the current engine
- Better shadows, lightmaps: Static shadows presence can be extended by generating more lightmaps in MWE. Lightmaps can be everywhere, it’s however a question of optimalization.

Dynamic .6ds shadows can be generated with some Russian tool (Harry thinks named SG) after a new model is completed.
- View distance fixes: We recommend using the Widescreen fix (see “Tools”) and setting the view distance accodring to your machine. This method does not affect the game files, unlike the other one: Run DDU.exe in Mafia folder, patch appropriate cache.bin, open scene2.bin in DCED and delete all occluders, you can delete or change light “mlha” (fog in the distance), and increase the view distance (file/general/properties)- GPU driver enhancements: Tested with Nvidia – sharper textures, wonderfully smooth edges on alpha-channeled textures. Screenshots in the gallery (unmodded game except view distance). The Dgvoodoo tool (see “Tools”) can also be used to sharpen textures using Anisotropic filtering.

7. For consumers
Available for download are following things:
a) Stable build of our (and if you decide to contribute - your) mod
This pack includes only models with textures that are considered 100% final – except for looking amazing, they are also on par with the original game design and closely resemble the original models. If you decide to use other packs as well, download this the last and overwrite the rest. Missions folder is also touched (scene2.bin files). You can read why in “Problems Solvers” and “Limitations”. Generally, the mod is not considered complete and final without them, but it will still work if you need to replace the scene2.bin files for other modifications.
b) Pack for lazy people
Pack of textures and some models done by various people (see “Packs for diligent people”), mostly not by us and some of which have never seen the light of day. If the same texture was done more times, I played a judge and chose “the better one”. That can cause some problems with how the game looks (e.g. some materials like grass not being seamless). In my opinion it doesn’t look good put together like this, but it is the largest pack which includes the most things. You can go for it if you are lazy and don’t have an eye for esthetics.
c) Packs for diligent people
All the packs of textures / models we know about available separately for download. This way you can play judge instead of me or only choose what you like. 2 versions of Russian packs by FansH (some final version released on some Russian forum), pack by the good guy Max (never released, lost somewhere in the depth of this forum), some other textures made by a guy who helped me (name mentioned on the folder), vegetation models from The MAFIA TreeS Project v3.0 by fowner.
d) Tools
Our own stable build currently should run without problems in the original game. Nothing of the rest will run just like that. You will need a 4 GB patch for textures (if your maps folder exceeds 2 GBs) and you will also need the dgVoodoo tool if you want to run the game without having to set the original textures to comprimated (this won’t affect their quality, but you will have to wait for quite a long time the first time you load the city – where the most textures are present – for additional files to generate). If you’ve never run the Mafia Data Xtractor, you will need the edited rw_data.dll to force the game to use the models and maps folders first. Except for that you can choose other tools – like the widescreen fix, with which you can adjust the view distance according to your machine or fix the hud or field of view for widescreen resolutions.

Well... wow. This project might be the most accurate remastering (I think this term is the most suitable one too) of the original game I've seen so far!
But the accuracy can be a problem actually. Some low-poly models of the original game look a bit unrealistic and adding more polygons to them will only make you notice all those things. For example, S&W revolvers, Model 10 especially: the grip is too thick, revolvers don't look this way in a real life.

Though anyway, this might be the best and the only true way to remaster the whole game. Good luck!

Some low-poly models of the original game look a bit unrealistic and adding more polygons to them will only make you notice all those things. For example, S&W revolvers, Model 10 especially: the grip is too thick, revolvers don't look this way in a real life.

Well, Model 10 might be a special case because we tried to experiment a bit with the grips to make it look like the in-game model more - you’re right that this is not the usual Model 10 grip, however even this one is based on real (though maybe custom) Model 10 grips. These larger ones are usually plastic, but we found wood as well and went with that. (Harry is going to kill me now, because he originally modelled the usual grip and this was my initiative. )

I’m not sure about Harry’s modelling process in general, but the guns were definitely built from scratch according to real models.

Anyway, this topic would bring much more lively debate in case somebody started working on cars...

Ok, I checked these new models in an actual game and I gotta tell that I was wrong. I was afraid that the new models would look weird but they fit the game just perfectly; this is definitely the best project with remastered models for now. You don't even notice that these new models are of a different origin (the first-aid kit is amazing!).

Yep, I just thought about the cars. But the building are quite interesting topic too. What level of detalization do you want/expect to see? And what about the characters? I saw topics on mafia-game.ru forum where they discussed editing of the characters' models, seems like somebody made a full working hi-poly version of Tom. Plus there vere post about conversion of Claude from GTA3 to Mafia, so 3ds max is ok with original Mafia skeletons I believe.

But the building are quite interesting topic too. What level of detalization do you want/expect to see? And what about the characters? I saw topics on mafia-game.ru forum where they discussed editing of the characters' models, seems like somebody made a full working hi-poly version of Tom.

That I would like to see. There was a topic about the newest export script and making human models here on Mafiascene and from what Harry found out while playing Frankenstein was that what they did with their character was cutting the skeleton into multiple submeshes. "Imagine a cat that loses a skeleton, so you cut off its legs and put an artificial joint there. Well, the cat moves, but the skin is still separated." To put it simply - the character moves, but it is put together from pieces bugged into each other.

"The optimalization is an open question." Two factors: a) it is not efficient and time proof to create models that would be less detailed than current games in general. b) in order to do such a thing in Mafia, you need a port to a new engine. And that one is not going to appear just like that. So we danced somewhere in the middle, trying to optimalize as much as possible with LODs. And we would continue doing it with houses as well. Anyway, as is mentioned, at least for the time being, we are not going to create anything ourselves... And our estimates of contributors are poor. So I would say one after the other...

This is truly something special for Mafia modding. Thank you man for your support and effort for the community. I'm simply at a loss for words, I.... I just need a moment.. Those pics are simply BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! We can now see this fanatastic unforgettable gem of a game remastered in a new engine for the first time ever!!

Sorry about that. The time span between uploading and posting of these packs was simply too long and I made a mistake... Fixed now. Thank you for letting me know.

No problem, and I also thank you very much for all the wonderful work.

I'm glad that models are similar to the original ones to keep game atmosphere.
I'm also glad that there are no problems witch guns effects and sounds in cutscenes. Well done! It would be great if you will continue the project.

These fixed packages also contain very interesting materials such a new models of wheels for vehicles and much more

Not that it would be a problem to upload it somewhere else as well but we based the whole cloud thing on Microsoft’s Onedrive and it simply has to work... There’s some problem on your side and I can’t say what it is.

We’re not going to port the whole game into a new engine, we just made "a few" high poly models (that is finished it in three months - paid our debts because we started working on them a long time ago and stopped at one moment) for the original game and we would like other people to join (though the chances are miserable). But what you see in the gallery is what you’ll see in the game (there may be slight differences in env maps and alpha channeled textures).

I’ve mentioned a creation of a port into a new engine as a general truth for two things: First - the development of the project as we made it and present it is not sustainable on the current engine, but we believe it’s the only proper way to do it. Second - it is very probable that somebody will be making the port because people want it. Even I have a general idea of how to make the plan feasible but time is the missing formula. And it’s quite obvious that it’s completely out of question to make the port without a team of professionals. (That does not exclude any efforts of the community, but only at a later stage.) You may remember this guy https://youtu.be/FReGuWjqYtA - well, his project is already dead - thanks to lack of time (that’s based on our conversation - he also mentions copyright problems of course)... You can be the judge but anyway: port = need of professionals to at least implement functions into a new engine = need of money and time to organize it...

To conclude: We want people to join and high poly models can be made for the original engine as well (though it’s a bit harder on the side of exporting it for the game - we offer to do this for contributors - and on the side of textures - to make them look good you have just plain bitmaps - modern games rely on lighting, bump and specular maps and easier processes like Substance Painter)... Should the majority of the game be remade with new high poly models, that would be a reason to start working on the port no matter the time... That’s most likely never going to happen so I won’t have to devote my life to Mafia...